I'm at a loss as to how to handle this. Punishing doesn't seem right, but a discussion about it didn't seem to work.
I made a large packet of Jell-O, which makes quite a big bowl. I put marshmallows on top and let it set.
My daughter, who is 10, asked if she could have some Jell-O. That's no problem, so I said "sure." I never specified how much, but I trusted her to eat a reasonable bowl of Jell-O.
Well, she ate the whole entire thing.
It's kind of funny, because I found her with a red Jell-O mustache and a big spoon in her hand.
Now, she KNOWS she's not allowed to eat that much sugar. I'm constantly monitoring her sugar intake because is makes her hyper. I think we allow a reasonable amount of sweet stuff, she can have a piece of pie with ice cream or a slice of cake or 4 cookies. She eats ice cream cones and slushies. Stuff normal kids eat. What's bad is she doesn't want just ONE piece of pie, she wants TWO. She will gobble up ice cream and ask for seconds. We don't give her small portions by any means!
We've talked about health. She has the American Girl book about the Care and Keeping of You and we've read it together.
She wants to gorge herself on sweets. Always.
I know I should have specified that she could have ONE bowl of Jell-O but I didn't. What would you do? Do you think she has a problem?
Thanks mamas! We sat down and talked about portion control AGAIN! She KNEW it was wrong and did it anyway. I decided to make her make a new batch of Jell-O to replace the one she ate because no one else got any. She is not to have any of the new Jell-O. My husband and I decided that she knew it was wrong as she was doing it, so we did want to have a consequence but not a dire one. I think that one "fit the crime" the best, thanks to the mama who suggested it! I like how it wasn't giving her a food complex, just focusing on manners and how it's rude to eat all of something meant for the whole family.
A nutritionist had told me that if you eat a lot of sweets you could be low on protein. I've noticed that when I up my protein my sugar intake goes down.
On another note she did have one bowl of jell-o and if you didn't want her to eat it all you should have served her a bowl.
Also I don't think that I would punish her for eating it I would have been more mad if it got wasted.
I don't think she has a food problem.
I do think that she knew that was wrong though. She ate it all and nobody else got any? That's not fair. I'd probably charge her for it ($2-$3) and have her make the next batch.
We've all had our moments where we go to eat just a little of something and end up scraping the last of it off the bottom of the bowl. I would just laugh it off and tell her to save some for everyone else next time. Definitely wouldn't punish for it. As for always wanting more desserts, she's a kid and already knows sweets are limited for her, which has given them power and made her want them even more. Does everyone only get one helping or can others get seconds, just not her? I would make sure the message you're sending is "one helping is enough for anyone" and not "you can only have one serving" to prevent sweets from becoming something forbidden and seemingly withheld (in the eyes of a 10 yr. old) and creating an unhealthy relationship with them that could last a lifetime.
Well now you now to be very specific about the amount. Also remind her if she feels like she is super hungry, jello is not very filling, but a sandwich or some non sugar cereal or a nice smoothie will fill her up more.
I guess she was really hungry.. She could be going through a growing spurt, our daughter could eat us out of house and home when this would happen to her..
Measure her height today and after 2 weeks of school measure her.. You will be amazed..
Actually she did have ONE bowl of Jell-O. LOL ;-)
Be more specific next time but I don't punishment will help.
I may consider talking with a nutritionist or her doctor. There may be some biological need for sweets. She may just like that high.
While she is hyper I would just use that extra energy for good. Put that girl to work around the house. Any chores you don't want to do now become her responsibility. Give her instructions and enjoy the rest of your day.
I dont' think she has a problem at all. She is a normal sounding 10 y.o. girl. Growing up my brother used to pour me a bowl a cereal for breakfast and then eat the rest of the box himself. We opened a new box every morning and we both turned out happy and healthy.
I love to bake so my kids are constantly getting sweets (cake, cupcakes, pie, pastries, cobblers...the list goes on and on). I had bought some Snickers for a cupcake I was making. My daughter ate the whole bag.
I decided to try something different because this was an issue with her. I asked the kids if they wanted cake and ice cream. They said yes, so I gave three of my four cake and ice cream. I didn't give my daughter who ate the Snickers anything. When she complained, I told her that I have an allotment of sugar they're allowed to have throughout the month and she decided to eat her allotment all in one night alone in her room. She wasn't getting any other sugary treats for a month. We haven't had this issue since.
Is she overweight? Lots of sugar isn't healthy, agreed, but it's normal for kids to eat a lot of sweets if they are available. My (skinny) 17 year old just ate a 2 lb. bag of jelly beans in one day.
Just keep the available sweets to a minumum, then you don't have to monitor them or worry about it. If your daughter is overweight, and seems to have an excessive appetite, then that is another problem, and I don't have a solution for that. Some people just have to battle an excessive craving for food their whole lives.
But kids like sweets. IMO, no punishment, just limit available sweets, then she can't do that. And jello's not as bad as most things. Pretty minimal sugar, actually.
Even if you said one bowl, you never said how big/small the bowl has to be ;)
It's really kind of funny (not now, but it will be)... YES, have a big talk with her, and talk about portion control. She can't eat anything bigger than her fist, for example, and show her serving sizes on the side of packages.
LOL, good luck with that sugar buzz, you poor thing ;)
@B... I'VE had eating comps at Cici's... against my brothers hockey team... I did pretty well for a girl, but OMG I know how your kiddo felt after that! ;)
I would not punish. You said she could have a bowl, so she did. I wouldn't let her have dessert though - since she already had hers.
Could be a growth spurt.
If she always wants to gorge on sweets, she's not getting enough protein. Make sure when she snacks, that she has protein along with it. If she's not allergic to nuts or peanut butter - those make great snacks along with fruit. She could have yogurt or cheese sticks as well - that will keep her full longer.
No, punishing doesn't seem right.
But she did hog a whole dessert that was meant for everyone.
Since she ate it all - she gets to make the next batch to replace it.
And then she can make sure every one has a first serving before anyone gets seconds.
Yes, sometimes kids DO overdo a sometimes treat (and many will eat till they are sick - impulse control is still in development).
My son (he's 12) went with day camp to Cici's Pizza, got into a competitive thing with his friends and ate 26 pieces of pizza.
They were small, but it was still 26 pieces of pizza.
I think he won.
No kidding he had a belly ache the next day - it was sort of self inflicted punishment.
I shudder to think how that child will eat when he's 16 (I've seen teenage guys eat - it's scary - sometimes they don't even stop to chew).
Chalk it up as a learning experience for both of you and specify how much she can have next time.
I'm sugar-sensitive - I CRAVE it, even knowing that it affects my mood and physical health horribly. Sounds like she might also be sugar-sensitive. The best solution for folks who are sugar-sensitive is usually to avoid sugar (and sugar substitutes) all together. I'd recommend taking her off of sugar for a couple of weeks (provide fresh cut fruit as a tasty alternative - but even that has to be in small amounts). You might be amazed at the change, and she'll probably start to crave it less. Good luck!
Don't punish her. You never specified how much she could have. Chastise her, sure, but don't punish her. Her behavior is likely going to be out of control and she may have some anger control issues for several hours while all of that red food dye courses through her system until it's flushed out though. Make sure she gets some real food into her and plenty of water. She needs to pee a lot to get all of that Red 40 out of her system.
Wondering if you made a small space in the fridge(cabinet, or where ever) for desserts choices for her. this is how many dessert you get this week and when they are gone you will have no more desserts left. At 10 it is hard to stop and think about what you are doing until after it happens a few times. Logically she knew it was wrong, knew it was wrong while she was doing it, but it still felt good, tasted good,etc. If you get her to think about her dessert choices everyday if she only gets three desserts a week, maybe she will start to realize some she should/must choose. That way she can make a better choice and it will help her in the long run with all decisions she makes too.
I'm going to look at it from a different way. Is she reacting to the sugar or is it from artificial colors or flavors or preservatives making her hyper? My dd can have all the sugar in the world, and it doesn't make a difference, but if she has a very small amount of the other stuff...wow, she's off the wall. Those petroleum based items also work like a drug and kids/adults that are sensitive to it, want it more and more. Now that my DD is off of them, she still wants sweets, but not to the level as of before plus we find she always asks for candy when she's hungry so we just have to redirect her to healthy food. Maybe you could start with that. Your DD may just still be hungry.
Wow, am i the only one who thinks this is just funny, not a big deal at all.
The food portions issue sounds like more of a control issue.
The more you limit it, the worse it will get.
Why not let her eat as much as she wants & get a terrible stomach ache as a consequence. That should teach a lot more than any talk will!
I can relate to your daughter. I am exactly the same way. I never understood why, but I cannot just have one piece of candy. I get terrible cravings for sugar. The only thing that I have been able to do to stop myself is to stop eating sugar entirely. I know it sounds drastic, but it is the only thing that works for me. After a few days, I no longer crave it and don't even want it if it is around.
The only advice I can give you is to limit the amount of times per month you have sugar in the house and then closely monitor her. I literally need someone to tell me to stay away from the sugar when I am eating it in order to stop.
Hope this helps.
Recovering Sugar Addict
my son is 15 and if I do not specify he will eat all of whatever he has asked about. I would not punish her but would sit down and talk about serving sizes and what is acceptable and if she is unsure that she should ask you next time.
I think it is just a kid thing = )
On the one hand, jello is a 'empty' food, in that you CAN eat alot of it and not feel full.
Everyone, kids and adults have problems with portion control. The trick that I'm using at my house is showing how if you eat alot or all of something now, then there isn't any left for later or anyone else.
We also make the kids wait 10 minutes between portions. If they are still wanting something after 10min then they can have seconds. Most of the time they decide that they don't.
I think some kids just have a sweet tooth…this is our 6 year old. Our 3 year old will eat 1/2 her ice cream and be done, the oldest will try and swoop in to eat the rest. NOOOOOO, that is not ok and she knows it, but won't stop her from trying. At a Summer Camp field trip (to a bowling ally), I gave the 6 year old $6 for spending…she bought a can of Mt. Dew, Skittles, Hershey bar with Almonds (threw away because she does not like almonds) and a Recees Cup (which she brought home). She was in BIG trouble when she came clean with where my money went. No, I did not tell her she could buy a bunch of junk, BUT at what point, knowing us as she does, did she think this was a good decision?!?! I am telling you this because I think some kids just love sweets. Heck, I could eat an entire bag of tootsie rolls if I didn't have to worry about working it off at the gym later!! Just stay on her and explain why it's not good for her. MAYBE one day she will get it.
